Mayan culture attracts adventurous couple to exotic lands

PAUL GEISERSpecial to The Record

Published Saturday, September 18, 2004

I have spent most of my adult life studying the Maya culture and architecture. As a younger person, I read every book on the subject I could get my hands on. As time went by, my interests branched out to include all of the per-contact cultures in this hemisphere.

As travel money became available, my wife and I would visit as many sites as we could. We have visited at least 20 sites of the Maya, Olmec, Inca, Anasazi and others.

Last year we visited the American Southwest, in the "Four Corners" area, to see not only the remainder of the Native American cultures there, but also as many national parks as possible to hike through the natural beauty preserved there.

This year we took a trip to Guatemala, to see what may be best of the currently restored Maya ceremonial sites, Tikal, and, in nearby Honduras, Copan. When the Maya used these sites for religious ceremonies the entire area was cleared of trees and paved. Modern restoration does not include re-paving and much of the jungle is left uncut. This provides shade for the visitor, but also adds humidity to the already heavy air.

Although many of the temples are restored, some are not, so climbing can be a very trying experience.

Sometimes from the tops of temples one can see a temple in a distant site, both temples rising above the canopy of the forest. Getting to the top of the temple often requires climbing on uneven stone steps that are very narrow. Coming back down is even trickier, but it is worth all the risk to see the world from the top on one of these great structures.